Gilgamesh

A hero is someone who tries the best to help everyone and will do everything in his or her power to help out another person. The term hero means different things to different people. Today many people believe that a hero is a person who can accomplish what others cannot or a person who puts themselves on the line for the other people. Men, women and children can all be heroes if they truly feel in their hearts the need to help others in even the smallest ways. In our modern world heroes are defined in so many ways. Anyone can be a hero, a best friend, a devoted mother/father, a teacher, etc. On the other hand, in the older days, before laws and technology, heroes were the men who fought against evil things, who rescue damsels in distress; they were the manly men, the king's knights, god like creatures, brave warriors. As criteria for any epic story a hero must be involved in the story. Furthermore, these heroes had to meet also specific criteria. The definition of an ancient time hero is very different than a hero today yet in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh meets many of the traits in today’s hero.

Gilgamesh, is much like the heroes of today he achieves many acts of skill, which makes him famous and fulfill the requirements todays hero by being consistently relating to a human society and demonstrates immortality, friendship, grief, ect. It is human nature for people to want to excel in life and strive to make a name in this world for themselves such as Gilgamesh strives to do. Gilgamesh is a portrayal of people and how they act out of human nature, he like many of us, does not want his existence to end when he leaves this world. He is not content with what he has, good looks, money, and power and desires more in life. In the story of Gilgamesh we, as people, can relate to this. There are similarities between Gilgamesh’s journey and our own journey through life as well as the heroes...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...The Epic of Gilgamesh
Through numerous experiences: his friendship with Enkidu, their dreams and journies together, and his quest for immortality, Gilgamesh changes from a selfish and cruel individual to a wise leader.
Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, was a spoiled and selfish person in character. There was no one who compared to his kingliness and as a result was running around Uruk out of control and unchecked. In efforts to find a balance Aruru created Enkidu out of clay and sent him into the wilderness to ultimately act as a counterbalance for Gilgamesh. There are many similarities between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, they were both endowed with traits gifted to them by the gods, they both had great strength and attributes, and they both were kings or king-like in their own lands. The most important similarity was the way they both cherished their friendship. When the two initially met they were not on good terms, they did not meet with intent to become friends, but did so after Enkidu challenged Gilgamesh to a fight and lost. I think Gilgamesh at this point thinks so highly of himself that he respects Enkidu for trying or even attempting to challenge him. After the brawl, Enkidu recognizes that Gilgamesh is unique in his strength and agility, after they kissed and became friends Gilgamesh changes almost instantly because he has someone educate...

...-Some differences between Gilgamesh and Enkidu are that Gilgamesh is handsome and basically flawless in his looks; Enkidu looks almost like a beast. Gilgamesh is mostly god and is filled with courage, fearless one could say. Enkidu was born of the wild, growing up among the wild animals and learning how to live off the land, so he knows what to fear and what not to. Gilgamesh is arrogant, Enkidu is not.
Some similarities between the two are that they are both strong, almost undefeatable; no match for anyone but the other one.
These differences and similarities are important because it helps shape the epic and helps the story flow.
-One intersting difference is that Enkidu can interpret dreams and Gilgamesh can’t. This is significant, because if Gilgamesh could interpret dreams that would make Enkidu less of a character and he would mean less to the story. Also if Gilgamesh is able to interpret dreams it would appear too much of a common placed thing and he would have no real need for Enkidu except for brute strengh. One similarity that they share is that they both show fatigue. This is significant, because it shows that they are both human and that they do have their limits.
-The differences between Gilgemesh and Enkidu are that Gilgemesh came from a more prominent/noble society and the fact that Gilgemesh is 2/3 God and 1/3 man. But it just shows that Gilgemesh thinks...

...History 421
Strengths and Weaknesses of Rulers
In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and how he is as a ruler changes drastically from the beginning of the epic to the end. In the beginning of the epic Gilgamesh is almost childlike in his views on his kingdom and the people he rules. As the epic progresses Gilgamesh grows with his reputation and support of his friend Enkidu. By the end of the epic Gilgamesh has matured to the point of selflessness.
In the beginning of the epic in the prologue it states that the gods created Gilgamesh and gave him a perfect body, perfect beauty, and great courage. They also made him two thirds god and one third man. In this the epic is describing rulers as perfect in health and strength and above the average person, that they are part of the gods yet still have human nature. I think this would reflect to the people that even though the ruler is above you they are still just like you and can feel emotion compassion and pain.
In The Coming of Enkidu Gilgamesh comes off as very aggressive and masculine. He is brutish and brash. He abuses his subjects with ceaseless battle, forced labor, and arbitrary exercises of power. Gilgamesh selfishly indulges his appetites, raping whatever woman he desires, whether she is the wife of a warrior or the daughter of a noble or a bride on her wedding night. The epic sees these actions...

...The Epic of Gilgamesh: It’s (usually) good to be the king
The discovery of the Epic of Gilgamesh had huge implications for western understanding of the east, and western culture in general. Not only is this a story with surpassing literary merit, it also has political implications which reflect the maturity of the society that produced it; More than just an adventure, Gilgamesh may be read as a critique of certain aspects of kingship. In this sense, it is far more subversive than any Beowulf or King Arthur. One of the difficulties with recreating Gilgamesh is that no one has unearthed a complete, comprehensive text which may be said to comprise the entire epic. Rather, different sections of the epic are found on cuneiform clay tablets. So far, we have around 80 Gilgamesh tablets, written over the course of a thousand years, and in several different languages. In spite of this, pieces of the plot are still completely obscure to us. Even so, the fact that one story was preserved, copied, and re-copied, albeit with variations, shows us the advanced state of literacy in Mesopotamia; the profusion of copied tablets indicates a thriving industry of professional scribes. The variety of unearthed royal libraries which house these tablets speaks to the importance of literature to Mesopotamian kings. Lastly, Gilgamesh tablets are found all over the Near East, from Ur to Hattusa, showing the...

...Bethany TowneWritten Assignment 1Western Civ 1Women In The Epic Of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian Society
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role, because while women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of all humans, they still had tremendous influence over others around them, and even today, over those who study and learn about the women of the time of Mesopotamia. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not necessarily play a minor role. One particular issue that is demonstrated among several others in the Epic of Gilgamesh is the status of women. Since this is a story of women's status many years ago, it is indeed an interesting issue to discuss, particularly today, since women still struggle for equal rights in every place and everything they do. It is interesting to learn about the history of women’s status in societies, such as the Mesopotamian society.
Throughout The Epic Of Gilgamesh, the roles of women are mixed. Women are represented as harlots, as wise, and as gods. There is a substantial amount of gods which are represented as women and it could represent a society with multiple views towards women. A society where no definitive set of rules were made for women and perhaps a society more open to a equal perspective. It can easily be seen that while men were considered to be the most powerful and wisest...

...As a Motivating Force
Love, both erotic and platonic, motivates change in Gilgamesh. Enkidu changes from a wild man into a noble one because of Gilgamesh, and their friendship changes Gilgamesh from a bully and a tyrant into an exemplary king and hero. Because they are evenly matched, Enkidu puts a check on Gilgamesh’s restless, powerful energies, and Gilgamesh pulls Enkidu out of his self-centeredness. Gilgamesh’s connection to Enkidu makes it possible for Gilgamesh to identify with his people’s interests. The love the friends have for each other makes Gilgamesh a better man in the first half of the epic, and when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and terror impel him onto a futile quest for immortality.
The epic may lack a female love interest, but erotic love still plays an important role. Enkidu’s education as a man begins with his sexual initiation by the temple harlot, and the two heroes’ troubles begin with their repudiation of Ishtar, the goddess of love. Humanity renews itself through the female life force, which includes sex, fertility, domesticity, and nurturance, not through an arbitrary gift of the gods. When Gilgamesh finally sees that his place is here on Earth and returns to Uruk to resume his kingship, Ishtar returns to her place of honor.
The Inevitability of Death
Death is an inevitable and inescapable fact of human life, which is the greatest lesson...

...2/29/12
Gilgamesh the Hero
Gilgamesh, written by David Ferry, illustrates a story about a man who knows everything, but continues to try and learn more. Although Gilgamesh may be arrogant, he still remains a great ruler and commander of Uruk. Throughout the book, the adventures of Gilgamesh fit Joseph Campbell’s idea of the hero’s journey. After analyzing the pieces to the hero’s journey, Gilgamesh is proven to be a true hero because his journey parallels that of the hero’s journey described by Campbell. The latter part of this paper will prove Gilgamesh is a hero using Campbell’s model, by analyzing the pieces of the hero’s journey: separation or departure, the initiation, and the return.
The first element of the hero’s journey is separation or departure. This first piece is comprised of a call to adventure, acceptance of the call, supernatural aid, and the cross of the threshold. Campbell explains in a hero’s journey, a herald calls the hero to come on a journey. This component is described in Gilgamesh when Enkidu comes to get Gilgamesh to go on a quest. Enkidu tells Gilgamesh about Huwawa, the guardian of the Cedar Forest, who is frightening everybody. After hearing about Huwawa, Gilgamesh accepts the call to adventure and says, “It is Gilgamesh who will venture into the Forest/and cut the Cedar down and...

...Epic of Gilgamesh
Summary: Gender plays a very significant role in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Although the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, and while men were considered to be the most powerful and wisest humans and gods, women had the power to significantly influence these men.
Gender Roles in the Epic of Gilgamesh
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role. While women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of humans, they still had tremendous influence. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not play a necessarily minor role. With all the women that play a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender is a topic worthy of discussion.
The obvious role of men in the Epic of Gilgamesh is that of the position of power. Anu, a male, is the most powerful God. Furthermore, not only is Gilgamesh the king of Uruk, but he is also two-thirds divine, which gives him unparalleled power, at least in the human world. This is evident in the way he rules. "By day and by night his tyranny grows harsher... lets no daughter go free to her mother... lets no girl go free to her bridegroom." (George, I, 69-75).
Women, on the other hand, play many more roles than men in this classic. Take Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh, for example. She plays...